It all started on 16 March 2008 with an e-mail and a Facebook group. In fact, it really started much earlier, with the love two of us had for Salamieh and its people.

Within five weeks of our inception, we had some 200 people supporting our initiative in a dozen different countries and with some 700 books pledged! Someone also pledged a generous financial donation.

Catching our breath, we stepped back and reflected further on what we were trying to achieve. We haven't looked back since.

That was mid-April 2009. In the space of eleven months the Foundation went from being a vision with potential grounded in solid concepts, a core team and a dynamic image, to a real organization taking on every building-block of an international charitable NGO, from donor relations through to programme delivery. The only uncharted territory was programme evaluation, as we had only just started working with our first beneficiaries--a milestone in itself.

On 16 March 2010 we celebrated the second birthday of this fantastic journey. NUHA is like our collective baby: sometimes it keeps us awake all night, but most of the time it is an exciting adventure. It is growing increasingly fast and keeps us fully on our toes. In the process, we are learning a tremendous amount and engaging with an ever-larger audience. Let us look forward together with hope.